royal prince | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hawthorne Derby Draws Field Of Seven; The Pizza Man Stakes Debuts Sunday

After rain dominated the first two weeks of racing for the fall Thoroughbred meet at Hawthorne Race Course, clear skies and warm temperatures have prevailed this week as three stakes races will return to the Hawthorne turf.

On Saturday afternoon a pair of turf stakes have been carded: the $60,000 added Illini Princes Stakes and $100,000 Hawthorne Derby, presented by BetMakers. On Sunday, the newly named The Pizza Man Stakes will be contested.

The Illini Princess is for Illinois-bred females, 3-year-olds and up to go at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The Hawthorne Derby, presented by BetMakers is an open stakes event for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the grass. The Pizza Man Stakes is for Illinois-breds, 3-year-olds and up, also to be run at 1 1/16 miles on the Hawthorne turf.

A look at the three turf stakes:

Saturday – Race 4 – $60,000 Added Illini Princess Stakes

To be contested at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, the $60,000 added Illini Princess Stakes is for Illinois-bred females, 3-year-olds and upward. The 2019 champ of this race returns as Bramble Queen is the 2-1 morning line favorite for owner Ballybrit Stable, LLC and trainer Mike Dini. A ten-time winner from 36 career starts, the well-traveled Bramble Queen has earned over $330,000 on her career. This summer, Bramble Queen became graded stakes placed when she rallied to finish third in the Grade 3 Modesty at Arlington Park. She followed that race with a victory in the Mike Spellman Memorial Stakes on August 14. Jareth Loveberry rides on Saturday.

Emmanuel Esquivel returns to Hawthorne to ride 4-1 second-choice W W Fitzy for trainer Cipriano Contreras. Despite only a couple of turf starts, W W Fitzy has been excellent on the main track, winning a tough optional-claiming allowance race this spring at Oaklawn and most recently taking a starter race at Belterra.

Three-year-old filly Katie M'Lady has been excellent on the turf for owners Cherrywood Racing Stables, II & Oak Rock Racing LLC. Trained by Michele Boyce, Katie M'Lady has won four of five turf starts on her young career, including a front-end score in the Sharon Kirby Memorial Stakes at Arlington on August 7. Regular rider Julio Felix will be aboard once again as Katie M'Lady is 5-1 in the morning line.

PP Horse Trainer Jockey M/L

1 Bramble Queen M. Dini J. Loveberry 2-1

2 Northern Alliance H. Rodriguez A. Rodriguez 30-1

3 Embarrassing H. Rodriguez J. Lopez 30-1

4 White Lies P. Miller A. Quinonez 20-1

5 W W Fitzy C. Contreras E. Esquivel 4-1

6 Launch Away M. Perez V. Santiago 12-1

7 Twelve Red Roses C. Banks E. Perez 50-1

8 Summer Day A. Mitchell R. Bowen 8-1

9 Cat Attack M. Boyce C. Roman 6-1

10 Beyond Proper C. Block J. Tavares 10-1

11 Katie M'Lady M. Boyce J. Felix 5-1

Saturday – Race 6 – $100,000 Hawthorne Derby Presented by BetMakers

After a three-year break, the Hawthorne Derby returns to the turf course to be contested at 1 1/8 miles. A competitive field of seven is led by 5-2 morning line favorite Last Samurai from the barn of trainer Dallas Stewart. Owned by Willis Horton Racing, LLC, Last Samurai just began his turf career this summer with a near miss in a Churchill allowance on June 6. He won his next out, a turf allowance score at Colonial before running ninth in the Dueling Grounds Derby on September 5. His most recent race was a near miss, losing by a neck in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx on September 25. Jon Court rides on Saturday.

Trainer Brad Cox sends 7-2 second-choice Royal Prince for owner Steve Landers Racing, LLC. A winner of four of 11 starts in his career on the grass, Royal Prince has scored three times this year, taking the Black Gold at Fair Grounds, Bayou City at Sam Houston and most recently the Caesars via disqualification at Indiana Grand on September 8. Fernando De La Cruz rode in the Caesars and gets the return ride Saturday.

After four starts in Ireland to open his career, Modus Operandi (Ire) makes his second turf start in North America for trainer Brendan Walsh. The son of Frankel (GB), Modus Operandi started two weeks ago on the Keeneland turf, closing late after a slow start to finish sixth. The 4-1 third-choice in the Hawthorne Derby, Modus Operandi will be ridden on Saturday by Alonso Quinonez.

PP Horse Trainer Jockey M/L

1 Grey Streak G. Arnold, II D. Carroll 9-2

2 Last Samurai D. Stewart J. Court 5-2

3 Temper Tantrum A. Hernandez C. Emigh 8-1

4 Modus Operandi (Ire) B. Walsh A. Quinonez 4-1

5 Battle Scars C. Block D. Parker 20-1

6 Royal Prince B. Cox F. De La Cruz 7-2

7 Mohs P. McBurney J. Loveberry 5-1

Sunday – Race 5 – $60,000 Added The Pizza Man Stakes

Best known for his victory in the 2015 Arlington Million, Illinois-bred The Pizza Man broke his maiden over the Hawthorne turf course in 2012 and later that fall won The Buck's Boy Handicap, the namesake of this stakes event until this year. Weather could be a factor for the Sunday event as rain is in the forecast for this 1 1/16 mile turf event for Illinois-bred three-year-olds and up.

The wide-open field of 11 is led by 4-1 morning line choice Fly Nightly for owners Marsico Brothers Racing and trainer Brittany Vanden Berg. Fly Nightly has found the board in 10 of 11 starts on the year, including five victories. Claimed for $20,000 in May, Fly Nightly won a state-bred allowance in his second start for his new connections and followed that race with an open-allowance score. He finished fifth in the state-bred Black Tie Affair stakes on the Arlington turf before running a good third in another tough open allowance in his last out. Chris Emigh rides on Sunday.

Fifteen-time turf winner Cammack runs for owner Team Block and trainer Chris Block. The 2018 winner of this race and 2019 runner-up, Cammack is still going strong at 11-years-old as he was second two starts back in the Black Tie Affair. Jose Lopez will be aboard Cammack once again.

PP Horse Trainer Jockey M/L

1 Land Mark Deal C. Block D. Parker 6-1

2 Ioya Again C. Block J. Tavares 5-1

3 Fly Nightly B. Vanden Berg C. Emigh 4-1

4 One Way Home M. Perez R. Bowen 15-1

5 Cammack C. Block J. Lopez 9-2

6 What's Up Dude M. Cristel V. Santiago 12-1

7 Readthecliffnotes M. Boyce E. Perez 15-1

8 Blue Sky Kowboy M. Boyce C. Roman 6-1

9 Richiesgotgame L. Rivelli J. Loveberry 12-1

10 Iwillpersevere M. Slager S. Uske 30-1

11 Coming Up Aces P. Miller A. Quinonez 12-1

Hawthorne Race Course, Chicago's Hometown Track, races three meets in 2021. The spring thoroughbred meet concluded on April 25. The summer Suburban Downs at Hawthorne harness meet began Friday, May 7 and concluded on September 26. The fall thoroughbred meet opened October 8 and races through December 27. First post daily in October and November is 3:10 PM. In December, first post moves to 12:55 PM. For any information about Hawthorne Race Course visit the website www.HawthorneRaceCourse.com.

The post Hawthorne Derby Draws Field Of Seven; The Pizza Man Stakes Debuts Sunday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Royal Prince Granted Win In Caesars Stakes After DQ

Royal Prince and Fernando De La Cruz pulled in a win Wednesday, Sept. 8 in the $150,000 Caesars Stakes. The race was the highlight of the 11-race card that included four stakes on the card and marked the richest day of turf racing in the state of Indiana.

Starting from post four in the reduced field of five, Royal Prince got away second behind Dyn O Mite and Jose Riquelme, following along in a stalking position throughout the one-mile turf event. At the head of the stretch, Royal Prince made his move and at first, looked like he would go right on by as the selected favorite of the field. However, Dyn O Mite came back to challenge. The duo battled the entire length of the stretch in close quarters with Dyn O Mite getting the last call by a half-length. However, contact between the two switched the order after a disqualification and moved Royal Prince up for the win. Perfect Silent Cat and Luca Panici, making his first start at Indiana Grand, finished third. The time of the race was 1:35.26.

Royal Prince is now three for eight in 2021 and four for 11 lifetime. He is owned by Steve Landers Racing LLC and trained by Brad Cox. He moved his career earnings over the $300,000 mark with the win. The grey son of Cairo Prince, a $70,000 yearling purchase is now a two-time stakes winner.

“This horse is always solid and showed today that he is that caliber of horse,” said Ricky Giannini, assistant trainer for Brad Cox who oversees the string at Indiana Grand. “He is stationed at Keeneland so he may go there for his next start.”

The Caesars Stakes was complemented by Empire of Hope, a Caesars Entertainment Racing initiative to bring funding and awareness to racehorse aftercare programs. Nearly $14,000 was raised through several promotions and donations geared toward the cause. A special presentation showing the support was held in the winner's circle with Randy Klopp, Indiana HBPA member and past president, Rachel McLaughlin, On-Air Racing Analyst, and Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing at Indiana Grand.

The 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is now in progress and continues through Monday, Nov. 8. Live racing is conducted at 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. A special Indiana Champions Day highlighting the state's top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses will be held Saturday, Oct. 30, beginning at noon. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.caesars.com/indiana-grand.

The post Royal Prince Granted Win In Caesars Stakes After DQ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mott-Trained Du Jour Headlines Full Field Of 3-Year-Olds For $750,000 Dueling Grounds Derby

Du Jour, winner of Churchill Downs' Grade 2 American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day, heads a capacity field of twelve 3-year-olds entered for Sunday's $750,000 Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby on opening day of the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

The Vicki Oliver-trained Core Values, fresh off beating boys in Ellis Park's prep for the Dueling Grounds Derby, goes back in against fillies while putting her three-race win streak on the line in the co-featured $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks. Both stakes are 1 5/16 miles, one lap around Kentucky Downs' undulating, kidney-shaped course.

A total of 145 horses are on the program for Sunday's 11-race card, with an extra race added because of the strong demand. There are 124 horses in the body of the races, with another 21 needing defections in order to run. Seven races attracted at least 12 entries. The Dueling Grounds Oaks' field of nine is the smallest field, with an 11-horse field and a pair of 10-horse fields rounding out the card.

Du Jour most recently was third in Saratoga's $1 million, Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational after finishing fourth in the $1 million, Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational in his first two races for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The colt previously was trained by California-based Bob Baffert, whose wife, Jill, is Du Jour's co-owner. Du Jour's American Turf was part of a huge day at Churchill Downs for Baffert, who finished first with Medina Spirit for what seemed to be his record-breaking seventh Kentucky Derby victory. That victory is in doubt, however, with Medina Spirit facing potential disqualification after subsequently testing positive for a therapeutic medication at more than the permitted level on race day.

Reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox has a strong tandem in the 3-year-old stakes with Royal Prince in the Dueling Grounds Derby and Adventuring in the Dueling Grounds Oaks.

Royal Prince lost Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby by a nose to Core Values after garnering a second and third in a pair of $75,000 stakes at the Fair Grounds and Sam Houston earlier in the year. Royal Prince has the distinction of finishing first in his debut at Kentucky Downs a year ago, only to have the race declared a no-contest because of a gate malfunction.

Modern Science gets another crack at Royal Prince after leading all the way in the Ellis Park prep only to get passed late to finish third by a total of a neck.

Among other Dueling Grounds Derby contenders: Kelly Breen ships Delaware's Grade 3 Kent Stakes victor Yes This Time in from Saratoga where the colt's five-race win streak ended with an eighth place in the Saratoga Derby after being pinched off at the start.

The Rusty Arnold-trained Cellist was sixth in the Saratoga Derby and third in the Belmont Derby after defeating Dueling Grounds Derby entrant Palazzi and Royal Prince in Churchill Downs' Audubon Stakes. Arnold also has Grey Streak in the Dueling Grounds Derby, with both colts owned by Calumet Farm.

Adventuring was third, by a total of a half-length, as the favorite in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks, won by Core Value's stablemate Flippant in a stakes sweep for Oliver. The winner of Turfway Park's Bourbonette, Adventuring worked a half-mile in a sparkling 47 2/5 seconds on Monday – the fastest of the morning — in company with Royal Prince.

Also back from Ellis Park's Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks is fourth-place finisher Oliviaofthedesert. Trainer Kenny McPeek has enjoyed a lot of success in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, winning in 2019 with Princesa Carolina and in 2017 with Daddys Lil Darlin and coming in second in 2018 with Princess Warrior.

Mark Casse, voted into racing's Hall of Fame last year and formally inducted this year after a COVID delay, sends out the entry of Woodbine allowance winner Inthewinnerscircle and Earth Strike in the Dueling Grounds Oaks among his seven horses in on Sunday.

Joel Rosario comes in from Saratoga to ride the opening card and has been named on 10 horses, including Du Jour and Adventuring. Also leaving Saratoga early is defending meet champion Tyler Gaffalione, who likewise is in every race but one.

Mike Maker, Kentucky Downs' all-time win leader who captured his fifth training crown last year, has a relatively calm opening day by the frenetic standards he's set at the entry box for the track. Maker has six horses in the entries, two of which are on the also-eligible list and will need defections to run. Among those assured of being in the race is Hilliard, a $40,000 claim at Saratoga in his last start. Maker will try to make the gelding his latest stakes winner by running him longer distances on turf.

The post Mott-Trained Du Jour Headlines Full Field Of 3-Year-Olds For $750,000 Dueling Grounds Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Core Values Beats The Boys To Take Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby

Core Values won her third straight race and this time beat males as BBN Racing's late-running 3-year-old filly got up on the last stride to the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby by a nose over favored Royal Prince at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. It was another neck back to pacesetter Modern Science.

“She likes to make it close every time,” said winning trainer Vicki Oliver, who wound up winning three races on the card. “But she seems to get her head in front at the wire.”

Oliver used the turf stakes as a stepping stone to the $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks at 1 5/16 miles on Kentucky Downs' Sept. 5 opening card. While she could have used the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks for the same purpose, Oliver wanted the extra sixteenth-mile distance.

“We were thinking about the Pucker Up (at Arlington Park) next weekend,” she said. “But we felt we'd gain a week coming here before Kentucky Downs and half the ship. And a mile and an eighth made more sense than the mile and a sixteenth for fillies. So we decided to run her against the boys.”

Jockey Rafael Bejarano had Core Values back in last in the field of seven 3-year-olds, flying through the stretch to get up by a nod at the finish while covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.94 over firm turf. She paid $24.40 as the longest shot on the board.

Core Values earned her first victory on dirt last winter in Tampa. After a pair of double-digit defeats, Oliver put her back on the turf, which the filly had tried in her second start. Core Values reeled off an allowance victory at Indiana Grand and then took Arlington Park's Hatoof Stakes by a head.

“My horse did win the last two times in easy races,” Bejarano said. “She really didn't like it much the last time she ran on the dirt. When she ran on the turf, she looked tremendous. Today, I just wanted to relax in the beginning and make my own ground. By the three-eighths pole, when I had my position, I started to ask her for more and she responded and gave me a good kick. I wanted to make sure we were clear in the stretch. When I came up to the favored horse, I knew we were going to beat him.”

Core Values, a daughter of Honor Code, now is 4-0-0 in eight starts, earning $141,377 with the $60,570 payday.

Oliver said she was confident of a big performance.

“I liked that it was a small enough field, there was enough speed for her and pace for her to close into,” she said. “So I did like our chances. And we had five pounds on the boys. That's a big deal going a mile and an eighth.”

But was Oliver confident at the wire that she'd won?

“I thought we had it the whole way until I walked down here and everybody said, 'I don't think you got it,'” she said. “So yeah, I was until everyone second-guessed that we got there.”

Brian Hernandez Jr., aboard the Brad Cox-trained Royal Prince, said he wasn't sure who'd won the race.

“It was really close,” he said. “Because that horse went by me pretty good, and then my horse took off again like he was going to get back by. We just weren't sure at the wire.”

The post Core Values Beats The Boys To Take Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post